Resiliently mounted railway hopper car outlet

ABSTRACT

An arrangement for discharging materials from a hopper which includes a gate structure having a housing provided with flanges adapted to be connected to the flanges at the lower part of the housing wherein a resilient gasket is disposed in compressed relation between the flanges of the gate housing and the lower part of the hopper, the gasket having side sections running the length of the hopper and end sections running the width of the hopper, each side section having a bevel on the slope sheet side of the hopper to allow for free flow of the lading inside the hopper, the end section having a similar type of bevel except that the bottom is contoured to hug the vertical end panel of the discharge gate, said gasket further having two dimples running continually therearound to insure airtight seal, and lastly the bottom of the gasket being contoured to make the transition from the vertical end panel to the slope on the side panel without leaving a hole or bulge that could cause an air leak.

[11] 3,831,803 1 Aug. 27, 1974 1 RESlLlENTLY MOUNTED RAILWAY HOPPER CAR OUTLET [75] Inventors: John W. Hutchison, Crown Point;

Marvin Stark, Michigan City, both of Ind.

[73] Assignee: Pullman Incorporated, Chicago, 111. [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 312,162

[52] US. Cl. 220/46 R, 105/247, 105/280, 214/8328, 220/81 R, 222/512, 302/52 [51] Int. Cl. B6111 7/14, B6ld 7/32, B65g 3/14 [58] Field of Search... 105/247, 280, 282 R, 282 A, 105/282 P; 214/8328; 302/52; 222/54.5

Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr. Assistant Examiner-Howard Beltran Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Richard J. Myers 5 7] ABSTRACT An arrangement for discharging materials from a hopper which includes a gate structure having a housing provided with flanges adapted to be connected to the flanges at the lower part of the housing wherein a resilient gasket is disposed in compressed relation between the flanges of the gate housing and the lower part of the hopper, the gasket having side sections running the length of the hopper and end sections running the width of the hopper, each side section having a bevel on the slope sheet side of the hopper to allow for free flow of the lading inside the hopper, the end section having a similar type of bevel except that the bottom is contoured to hug the vertical end panel of the discharge gate, said gasket further having two dimples running continually therearound to insure airtight seal, and lastly the bottom of the gasket being contoured to make the transition from the vertical end panel to the slope on the side panel without leaving a hole or bulge that could cause an air leak.

9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures RESILIENTLY MOUNTED RAILWAY HOPPER CAR OUTLET BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The field of art to which this invention pertains is hoppers and in particular to railroad hopper cars wherein there is provided sealing means between the discharge gate arrangement or housing and the lower part of the hopper.

2. Description of the Prior Art It is well known in the prior art to provide for pneumatic discharge arrangements for hoppers of railroad cars wherein seal means are provided between the discharge arrangement and the hopper proper, as shown for instance, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,637,262 and 3,675,975 which are hereby incorporated by reference thereto. what, however, has been lacking in the prior art is the provision of a seal arrangement between the hopper and the discharge arrangement or gate structure that allowsfor a free flow of the lading along the side sections and end sections of the hopper and associated gate and, also, to prevent dirt and foreign matter from working its way under the seal arrangement and also to insure an airtight seal without necessitating excessive compression on the seal means and lastly to provide for such a seal arrangement or gasket which is contoured to make the transition between the vertical end panel and the slope on the side panel which seal means would prevent an air leak. It is such problems that the applicants invention seeks to solve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a general object of this invention to provide an improved hopper construction providing for effective sealing between the hopper and the hopper discharge arrangement or gate mechanism.

Particularly, the inventive design disclosed herein provides for a seal arrangement at the juncture of the hopper with the discharge mechanism along the slope sheet side sections and end sections to allow for a free flow of the lading and prevent dirt and foreign matter from working its way under the novel seal arrangement or gasket structure. The novel seal or gasket structure is further provided with dimples that run around it to insure an airtight seal without necessitating excessive compression on the seal or gasket and providing a good seal even where uneven or poor surface conditions exist between the hopper and the discharge gate. Further, the gasket is contoured at the juncture of the corners thereof to make the transition from the vertical end panels to the slopes on the side panels without leaving holes or bulges that could cause air leaks.

These and other objects will become apparent from reference to the following description, appended claims and attached drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial view of a hopper arrangement for a railroad hopper car;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a gasket seal arrangement between the hopper and its discharge gate arrangement;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial top plan sectional view of the gasket seal means;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a section view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 66 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference now to the drawing and the aforementioned U.S. Patents and in particular with reference to FIG. 1, a hopper structure is designated by the reference character 10 and includes an upper hopper l2 and a lower pneumatic discharge arrangement or gate structure 14. The hopperstructure 10 is supported on a suitable vehicle such as a railway car or the invention may be utilized with a stationary hopper structure from which material is discharged through a pneumatic conveying system to its ultimate point of destination. The hopper 12 is provided with sloping walls 16 that extend transverse to the direction of travel of the rail way car and constitute the length of such hopper forming the side walls therefor, the end walls 18 of the hopper forming with the side walls 16 the hopper enclosure. The end walls do not slope but rather extend in a general vertical direction. The pneumatic discharge arrangement 14 includes a housing 20 which is attached to the lower end of the hopper l2 and carries therein the pneumatic discharge gate 22 which includes a pair of concentric tubular members having registerable openings cooperating in discharging the contents of the hopper in a known manner as shown in said aforesaid patents. The discharge housing 20 like the hopper 12 is provided with sloping side walls 24 which form continuing sloping wall means with the sloping side walls 16 of the hopper l2, and is also provided with end walls 26 that are in vertical alignment with the end walls 18 of the hopper 12. The lower end of the hopper 12 as defined by its side walls and end walls terminates in a horizontally peripherally extending flange structure 28 which is rectangular in shape and extends outwardly of the side walls and end walls of the hopper 12. The lower housing 20 of the pneumatic discharge arrangement 14 is similarly provided. with a rectangularly shaped horizontally extending and peripherally extending flange structure 30. Each of the flange structures extend outwardly of the hopper end discharge arrangement and over one another and are separated from one another by the novel sealing means or gasket means 32.

This novel sealing means or gasket means 32 is shown in FIGS. 2-6 and comprises a one piece rectangularly shaped continuous gasket member 34 and is being manufactured as an extruded white neoprene element with a durometer reading of generally 50 to 55. The gasket member is provided with end sections 36 and side sections 38 which are sandwiched in between the ends and sides of the flange structures 28 and 30 attached to the hopper l2 and the housing 22 as aforesaid. The side sections 38, 38 are each extruded with a bevel surface 40 on the slope sheet side of the hopper end gate arrangement so that the gasket bevel surface allows for a free flow of the lading inside the car between the slope sheet side wall 16 and the slope side wall 24 which can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 6. The gasket end sections 36, 36 as seen in FIG. 4 have a bevel surface 42 which is the same type of bevel design as the bevel surface 40 of the side section 38 except that the bottom side end portion 44 (see FIG. 4) is curved or contoured so that the bottom side 44 at the inner end of the gasket portion 36 hugs the vertical end panel or end wall 26 of the discharge gate structure housing 20, thus preventing dirt and foreign matter from working its way under the gasket and becoming a potential load contaminator. Further, the gasket member 34 has two dimples 46 and 48 that run continually around the gasket on its top surface and between its lateral edge portions as shown in FIGS. 36. These dimples are actually raised triangulated surfaces that terminate upwardly in an apex. These dimples are designed to insure an airtight seal without necessitating excessive compression on the gasket. This type of gasket design also gives a good seal with uneven or poor surface conditions of the gasket or either of the flanges of the hopper or gate structure. Also, as viewed in FIG. 6, the bottom corner side or surface 50 of the gasket member that extends all around the periphery of the gasket on the underside thereof is contoured to make the transition from the vertical end panel 26 to the slope on the side walls 24, 24 without leaving a hole or bulge between the gasket material and the walls of the gate section that could cause an air leak.

The foregoing description and drawing merely explain and illustrte the invention and the invention is not limited thereto, except insofar as the appended claims are so limited, as those skilled in the art who have the disclosure before them will be able to make modifications and variations therein without departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A discharge hopper arrangement including a hopper having a lower generally horizontally extending peripheral flange and opposed pairs of side and end walls extending upward from said lower flange, a discharge g'ate housing having an upper generally horizontally extending peripheral flange disposed beneath said lower flange and opposed pairs of interconnected side and end walls extending downward from said upper flange, with the end walls and upper flange of the discharge gate housing being joined along curved junctures, and a gasket member disposed in sealing arrangement between said lower and upper flanges,

said gasket member having a generally rectangular configuration and being complementally engaged in compressed arrangement between said flanges and having an opposed pair of side wall sections with first bevel edge surfaces bevelled in the general directions of the side walls of the hopper and discharge gate housing and in general planar alignment therewith,

said gasket member having an opposed pair of end wall sections having second bevel edge surfaces bevelled in the general directions of the end walls of the hopper and discharge gate housing and having underposed curved surfaces conforming to the curved junctures of the flanges and end walls of the discharge gate housing and underlying said second bevel surfaces, and

said gasket member having a top surface generally coextensive with said upper and lower flanges and dimple protuberance means extending therefrom and running continuously around the top surface to effect a clean seal between the flanges.

LII

2. The invention according to claim 1, and

the end wall sections and side wall sections of the gasket member forming junctures with each juncture defining an underposed curved surface conforming with inside juncture surfaces of the discharge gate housing end walls and side walls.

3. The invention according to claim 1, and

said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the top surface.

4. The invention according to claim 1, and

the end wall sections and side wall sections of the gasket member forming junctures each defining an underposed concave surface conforming with inside juncture surfaces of the housing end walls and side walls.

5. The invention according to claim 4, and

said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the top surface in a generally rectangular concentric pattern.

6. A gasket for positioning in compressed relation between a flange of a discharge hopper and a flange of a discharge gate housing which forms curved junctures with respective interengaged side and end walls of the discharge gate housing, the gasket comprising:

an opposed pair of side wall sections;

an opposed pair of end wall sections interconnected with said side wall sections to form a generally rectangular annular configured member;

each of said side wall sections having an inner side having a first bevel surface therealong to provide for smooth flow of material between the hopper and the discharge gate housing;

each of said end wall sections having an inner side having a second bevel surface therealong to provide for smooth flow of material between the hopper and the discharge gate housing; the inner sides of each end wall section having an underposed curved surface underlying the second bevel surface which is contoured to conform to the curved juncture of the end walls and flange of the discharge gate housing; said generally rectangular annular configured member having a planar flange engaging surface; and

dimple protuberance means running continuously around the planar flange engaging surface to effect a clean seal between the flanges.

7. The invention according to claim 6, and

said end walls and side walls being interconnected at junctures defining an underposed concave surface conforming with inside juncture surfaces of the discharge gate housing end and side walls.

8. The invention according to claim 7, and

said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the planar flange engaging surface in a genrally rectangular concentric pattern.

9. The invention according to claim 6, and

said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the generally planar flange engaging surface in a concentric pattern. 

1. A discharge hopper arrangement including a hopper having a lower generally horizontally extending peripheral flange and opposed pairs of side and end walls extending upward from said lower flange, a discharge gate housing having an upper generally horizontally extending peripheral flange disposed beneath said lower flange and opposed pairs of interconnected side and end walls extending downward from said upper flange, with the end walls and upper flange of the discharge gate housing being joined along curved junctures, and a gasket member disposed in sealing arrangement between said lower and upper flanges, said gasket member having a generally rectangular configuration and being complementally engaged in compressed arrangement between said flanges and having an opposed pair of side wall sections with first bevel edge surfaces bevelled in the general directions of the side walls of the hopper and discharge gate housing and in general planar alignment therewith, said gasket member having an opposed pair of end wall sections having second bevel edge surfaces bevelled in the general directions of the end walls of the hopper and discharge gate housing and having underposed curved surfaces conforming to the curved junctures of the flanges and end walls of the discharge gate housing and underlying said second bevel surfaces, and said gasket member having a top surface generally coextensive with said upper and lower flanges and dimple protuberance means extending therefrom and running continuously around the top surface to effect a clean seal between the flanges.
 2. The invention according to claim 1, and the end wall sections and side wall sections of the gasket member forming junctures with each juncture defining an underposed curved surface conforming with inside juncture surfaces of the discharge gate housing end walls and side walls.
 3. The invention according to claim 1, and said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the top surface.
 4. The invention according to claim 1, and the end wall sections and side wall sections of the gasket member forming junctures each defining an underposed concave surface conforming with inside junctuRe surfaces of the housing end walls and side walls.
 5. The invention according to claim 4, and said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the top surface in a generally rectangular concentric pattern.
 6. A gasket for positioning in compressed relation between a flange of a discharge hopper and a flange of a discharge gate housing which forms curved junctures with respective interengaged side and end walls of the discharge gate housing, the gasket comprising: an opposed pair of side wall sections; an opposed pair of end wall sections interconnected with said side wall sections to form a generally rectangular annular configured member; each of said side wall sections having an inner side having a first bevel surface therealong to provide for smooth flow of material between the hopper and the discharge gate housing; each of said end wall sections having an inner side having a second bevel surface therealong to provide for smooth flow of material between the hopper and the discharge gate housing; the inner sides of each end wall section having an underposed curved surface underlying the second bevel surface which is contoured to conform to the curved juncture of the end walls and flange of the discharge gate housing; said generally rectangular annular configured member having a planar flange engaging surface; and dimple protuberance means running continuously around the planar flange engaging surface to effect a clean seal between the flanges.
 7. The invention according to claim 6, and said end walls and side walls being interconnected at junctures defining an underposed concave surface conforming with inside juncture surfaces of the discharge gate housing end and side walls.
 8. The invention according to claim 7, and said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the planar flange engaging surface in a genrally rectangular concentric pattern.
 9. The invention according to claim 6, and said dimple protuberance means including a pair of laterally spaced-apart dimple protuberances running continuously around the generally planar flange engaging surface in a concentric pattern. 